


Bound by Chains

by yeonjunsleftnut



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: 1950s, Aftermath of Torture, Aftermath of Violence, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends Choi Beomgyu & Choi Yeonjun, Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Torture, Blood and Violence, Blow Jobs, Bottom Choi Yeonjun, Boyfriends, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Bullying, Choi Soobin Is Bad At Feelings, Comfort, Confused Choi Yeonjun, Depression, Dom/sub Undertones, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, First Time Blow Jobs, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gay, Gay Sex, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Hurt Choi Soobin, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, Internalized Homophobia, Japan, Kissing, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Murder, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Torture, Past Violence, Period-Typical Homophobia, Pining Choi Yeonjun, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, Reincarnation, Sad Choi Soobin, Sad Choi Yeonjun, Sad with a Happy Ending, Smut, Soft Choi Soobin, Soft Choi Yeonjun, Suicide, Threats of Violence, Time Travel, Top Choi Soobin, Torture, Violence, Whipped Choi Soobin, Whipped Choi Yeonjun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:01:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28540002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeonjunsleftnut/pseuds/yeonjunsleftnut
Summary: Due to being the victim of constant bullying for being gay, and unable to cope with his boyfriend being brutally murdered, Soobin took his own life in 1950 at Aokigahara Forest. Ever since then, he's been wandering the grounds as a ghost.Choi Yeonjun tours Japan with his friends, and decides to visit Aokigahara Forest with Kang Taehyun. While there, Yeonjun loses Taehyun and suddenly sees a man who was clearly a ghost. The ghost, Soobin, who is startled that a human could finally see him, lends him a hand and the second their fingers meet, a white light blinds both of them and Yeonjun wakes up in a old-fashioned house wearing odd clothes and a blue pendant."Where am I?!""We're... in my house 71 years ago, and judging by that pendant you're my dead boyfriend."OrGhost Soobin and Yeonjun somehow time travel to 1948, in which Yeonjun takes the place of Soobin's boyfriend who was murdered
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	Bound by Chains

_Choi Soobin was frozen, eyes wide, jaw hung open, breathing heavily and silent tears cascading down his face. He felt as if his whole heart had stopped, the moment feeling like years. Memories of them laughing, and playing games, crying and giving each other a sympathetic look when they were punished at a young age. The times when they were there for each other's brightest and darkest moments._

_He'd run as fast as he could after hearing a poor man was being beat up near the corn fields, but it seemed he was too late. His knees of his faded blue jeans were drenched in crimson red, but he didn't care. Soobin believed nothing else mattered right now. At this point, he was desperate. Ignoring the cuts and bruises clearly visible, scattered all over his body Soobin pressed his ear to his heart._

_Nothing._

_"Please, Yeonjoon… please let me wake up, please I'm begging you," Soobin sobbed, letting out all his screams of fury and sadness. Yeonjoon's tan skin was littered with burn marks from their heartless torture, fingerprints bruised into his once clear, soft and plush skin. His plump cheeks full of energy and life was now just skin and bones, the stress of the mental and physical torture getting to him on his final days. Yeonjoon's right shoulder was twisted at an odd position, the skin discolored near the area. A pitchfork was stabbed straight through Yeonjoon's left hand, trapping it to the ground beneath him._

_However, Soobin believed the worst part was his face. His eyes were wide open, mouth open, stuck in an eternal scream of agony. Blood leaked from the side of his head, Soobin assuming it was from a fall to the ground. His beautiful face was now adorned with the word 'FAG' carved into the side of right cheek, red still spilling from the deep cuts._

_Another sob wrecked his chest as he cradled Yeonjoon's head in his lap, softly brushing the black strands out of his eyes._

_"I'm sorry, Yeonjoon. I'm so, so fucking sorry," Soobin cried shutting his eyes closed and screaming before sobbing once more. He hit the hard ground over and over again with one of his fists until the knuckles were stained with blood._

_"I'm so sorry my baby, I wish I could've done something," he whispered. "I love you…"_

_In the midst of mourning his beloved's death, admiring the face he had once known to be filled with happiness, right after saying that simple sentence a hand grabbed his hair harshly._

_"You're… you're like that too?!" The man seethed. Soobin glanced behind him, and saw four more people._

_He didn't answer._

_He should've answered, looking back on it._

_-_

_Soobin entered the forest numbly, chains in hand as he slowly walked towards a tree. He picked up a small log, standing on top of it, slightly wobbling as he steadied himself on the trunk of the tree. His dirty shoes were stained with mud and his own blood, his arm burning. Soobin could feel the crimson liquid cascading down his arm, dripping onto the ground beneath him. He didn't need to know what was carved into his skin, he already knew._

_Faggot._

_He didn't cry, or even scream in anger. Soobin simply tied a noose with the chains, hanging it on the thick and steady branch of a tree. The whole world seemed to still as Soobin slipped his head through the chains ._

_The man looked up to the bright, shining moon. He'd meet Yeonjoon soon, they'd finally reunite after years of pain and suffering._

_Little did he know how wrong he was._

_"I love you, Yeonjoon."_

_Kicking himself off the log, the chains sunk into his skin, preventing him from breathing. His watery eyes looked up at the moon, and couldn't help but smile. Everything would be over, death was more pleasant than the wretched life he lived._

_Soobin breathed his last breaths, and his body swayed softly side to side in the light wind, the moon shining bright above him._

_All of this happened simply because two boys fell in love._

-

"I'm exhausted," Beomgyu groaned, throwing himself onto the soft, fluffy bed made with high-quality pillows and blankets. The bed seemed to be calling to Yeonjun as well, but he'd rather spend his time adventuring through Japan than lazing off in a bed. The elder believed they should do the same, as they paid lots of money for this trip. Yeonjun rolled his eyes as he shoved Beomgyu off the bed, the boy squeaking as he hit the carpeted floor.

"Unpack, then you can sleep," Yeonjun ordered. The younger replied with a pout, but complied to his demands. Yeonjun did the same, unpacking his clothes and placing them neatly into a series of drawers in a dresser. He had made sure to plan out each and every one of his outfits carefully, as he wouldn't be caught dead wearing something that doesn't match.

The Beomgyu and Yeonjun, along with Taehyun and Hueningkai, took a trip to Japan. Hueningkai wanted more cute plushies, and despite being able to get plenty in America there were a few you were only able to get in Japan. Beomgyu had taken a sudden interest in anime and manga and wanted to tour the wondrous anime shops with all the merchandise. Yeonjun wanted to eat yummy Japanese food, whether it be street food or convenience store snacks. Taehyun admired the scenery and videogames, so he planned to visit arcades and tourist sights.

"I'm gonna go check up on Taehyun and Hyuka, you can get your beauty sleep. You need it," Yeonjun laughed as a fluffy pillow was launched at him from the bed, a small huff being heard from Beomgyu. Yeonjun quietly exited the bedroom and turned off the lights.

"You guys got the snacks?" Yeonjun skipped towards the dining table, peering into the plastic bags filled with a bunch of Japanese snacks he'd never seen before. A hum left Taehyun's mouth and Hueningkai stepped out of his and Taehyun's shared bedroom with a big penguin plushie.

Taehyun unloaded the snacks, Yeonjun immediately grabbing for one. He ripped open the colorful green and yellow package, popping a chip into his mouth and nodding in approval at the flavor. It was very tangy and sweet, not so bad.

As Hueningkai sat at the table, Taehyun scrolled through his phone, suddenly peeking up with a sly smile on his face. "Say… are you guys interested in going to Aokigahara Forest with me?" 

Yeonjun frowned. He had never heard of that place before. Sure, he admired scenery as much as Taehyun. But a forest? Surely he could do better than that with some neat waterfalls, that overlooked a beautiful pond. Maybe look at some old traditional houses and watch cute koi fish swim through the ponds.

"Oh hell no!" Hueningkai yelped, eyes wide with a mouthful of orange jellies. Yeonjun laughed at the scared little maknae, whose fingers were digging into the poor penguin plushie.

"C'mon Hyuka it's just a forest, what's the big deal? We're coming with you for your plushie hunting, why not go for a calm forest walk?" Yeonjun reasoned.

However, Hueningkai shook his head, seemingly refusing to even listen to his reasoning. His facial expression was shaken up, something that Yeonjun didn't think made much sense. "Do you even know what the Aokigahara Forest is?!"

Taehyun looked at Yeonjun as well, and the elder shook his head, confused. His eyebrows furrowed together and the corners of his mouth turned down. "What? It sounds like a regular forest to me."

"Aokigahara Forest is also known as the Suicide Forest. It's one of the places with the most suicides recorded every year," Taehyun explained, an odd glint in his eye.

Yeonjun looked at him in horror, scrunching up his nose in disgust. Why would someone want to visit a place where they could potentially see a dead body? If Taehyun wanted to see something creepy he could've just visited a graveyard back at home.

As if reading his mind, Taehyun sighed. "I'm not there for corpse sightseeing, the place there actually has really good scenery, despite the large amount of deaths there. Though, I'm also interested in what made people want to commit suicide in that place particularly," he murmured, seemingly off in his own world.

"I'll go."

"What?!" Hueningkai whipped towards him so fast as if Yeonjun was insane. Which he probably was for agreeing to this. What kind of friend casually agrees to sightsee a forest where people take their own lives there everyday?

Yeonjun shrugged. "I mean, I'm probably okay if I see a body only a long ways away, I'll probably throw up if I see something up close."

Taehyun beamed in happiness, the pearly whites lighting up the room. "Great! I've always wanted to see that place."

"Well that's totally not creepy," Hueningkai rolled his eyes, grumbling. "I'm gonna play games with Beomgyu, you guys have fun getting haunted by ghosts."

Suddenly, Beomgyu peeked his head out of the bedroom doorway, lips pulled into a pout as his bleary eyes squinted at the trio of friends chatting loudly. "Can you guys shush?"

"They're gonna visit the Suicide Forest!" Hueningkai screeched, and Beomgyu's gaze hardened into a serious expression.

The boy with messy black sleep hair stared at Yeonjun and Taehyun to the point the eldest started squirming in his seat. However, Taehyun cocked an eyebrow, as if challenging him.

"You guys aren't planning to… take your own life there, right?" Beomgyu spoke carefully and slowly.

Hyuka's eyes widened in fear, and looked at the duo, impatiently waiting for their answer. The whole room seemed to still with that question, and Taehyun's eyes widened almost comically.

"Fuck no! I was interested in the scenery and the psychological aspect of it," Taehyun explained himself quickly and Yeonjun agreed with him in a rush.

Yeonjun was perfectly happy with his life. He had graduated college despite the enormous struggle with tuition and work. He had gotten a job at a large dance studio that had great pay. He could do his passion for as long as he wanted, dance and let his emotions flow with his dance moves. His friends stuck with him through thick and thin, and even supported him and came out of the closet as well when he confessed he liked boys.

Yeonjun's family wasn't exactly the greatest, his father had left him at a young age and his mother was constantly working to provide for him. It was tough growing up, especially watching his mother get few hours of sleep

Taehyun suddenly slung a small, forest green backpack over his shoulder, looking towards Yeonjun. "Are you ready to go?"

"Now?" Yeonjun frowned. They had just arrived and checked into the hotel half an hour ago. Beomgyu was exhausted, and he had no doubt Hueningkai probably was too.

Taehyun shrugged. "Why not?"

"Fair point."

Yeonjun and Taehyun weren't ones to wear out quickly. Yeonjun had always been energetic and hyper, eager to do things. Even though Beomgyu was just an emergency when he was awake, he got exhausted quickly. Taehyun slept a ton so when he wanted to do something he was at full battery, which Yeonjun assumed he had done at the airport and the long plane ride.

Taehyun was smart, and knew Yeonjun wasn't tired. As the oldest packed up a bag with water, snacks, flashlights and a few other necessities, Taehyun tugged on his shoes, already ready to go.

"Come back alive!" Hueningkai yelled from the living room, a small "ow" following shortly afterwards. A grin tugged at Yeonjun's lips as he knew Beomgyu had smacked him.

Yeonjun laughed. "Don't worry, we will."

Perhaps he had jinxed himself.

-

"Huh, this is more boring than I thought," Taehyun grumbled, sitting down on a large flat rock and taking a sip of water from his water bottle. Beads of sweat cascaded down his temple, the temperature not giving them any mercy on this trip.

Yeonjun sighed and rolled his eyes. He really should've known better than to trust Taehyun. "The view is great" my ass, it was just a forest that drove people to kill themselves. Sure, it was definitely a nice forest without all the garbage people left in forests back in Korea but still. It was… just a forest.

"Can we go back? There's nothing here and it's boring as hell," Yeonjun whined. Taehyun sighed and rolled his eyes at the supposedly eldests behavior. Then again, Yeonjun never exactly acted mature.

A groan escaped Taehyun's mouth. "Yeah, I'm just really bummed out that this place wasn't as interesting as I thought. Yeonjun nodded in agreement. He foolishly believed that perhaps there was a certain aura around the forest, one that perhaps poured out despair and hopelessness. But there was just nothing, only trees and the occasional animal.

"Hey but uh- I like, really need to use the bathroom. Like, really bad," Taehyun laughed nervously. His legs were crossed while sitting, seemingly about to burst any second.

Yeonjun's face scrunched up in disgust. "But it'd be so disrespectful to piss in this forest! People take their own lives here, Taehyun."

Taehyun's face turned red. "Well, I'd hold it in until we reach a bathroom somewhere but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna pee myself if I continue walking, so there's not really much of a point if it's gonna happen either way."

Yeonjun face-palmed himself, muttering a small, "fine just don't do it in front of me." Taehyun scurried a little ways away behind a tree to relieve himself.

The eldest felt a small wave of disappointment on the failure of this trip. He started to think about other places they could visit to lift up Taehyun's clear sour feelings towards the forest he'd been looking forward to for so long. Definitely not another forest. He'd like to see something that he could only see in Japan.

Though, Yeonjun couldn't help but wonder about those whose lives were taken here. He wondered why they had done it here, in this specific area. Why would someone fly all the way to Japan from a foreign country, just to take their own lives in this specific area? Did they just think it'd be funny to add one more death to the already high death rate.

He supposed he would never know unless he'd speak to a ghost or whatever. A small chuckle left Yeonjun's mouth at the thought. After a while, a frown deepened Yeonjun's face. Taehyun was taking way too long.

Yeonjun carefully walked over to where Taehyun had taken a piss, but he was nowhere to be found. Looking around a bit more, Yeonjun started to panic. Okay, the forest was pretty damn frightening when you're alone and your friend disappeared out of nowhere.

"Taehyun-ah?" Yeonjun called out timidly, wincing at how loud his voice was. "This isn't funny," Yeonjun grumbled, eyes darting around the area. Suddenly, he stumbled upon a clearing. Seeing something move, his body finally relaxed. Was it Taehyun?

"Hey-"

Oh, it was just another person. The man looked at him with wide eyes, surprise lacing his features. His light blue hair hung right above his large doe eyes, small, pink mouth opening slightly. He kind of looked like a beanpole, with his tall and slim figure. Yeonjun shook the thoughts out of his head, and internally thanked the higher beings that the body that was moving wasn't a dead person hanging from a tree.

"Have you seen a man with red h…"

Yeonjun trailed off, squinting his eyes at the man who was frozen in his tracks. His body was tense, mouth opening and closing as if wanting to say something but quickly changing his mind.

There was something… off about him.

Then it clicked.

Yeonjun fearfully took a step backwards, but ended up stepping on a thick stick causing him to lose his balance and fall on his ass, arms flailing helplessly. His lower body hissed in pain, but Yeonjun's eyes were trained on the man with sky blue hair.

He was… transparent.

Just like a ghost.

"What the hell are you?! G-get away from me!" Yeonjun yelled, attempting to get back up and run for his life but continued losing his balance due to the fear coursing through his veins.

The man suddenly unfroze from his position, seemingly in the same state of panic.

"Wait- I um… I'm not dangerous, I swear! You're the first person who has ever seen me, please don't leave!" The boy stammered, eyes wide and fearful. He carefully stuck out his hand, offering for Yeonjun to use it to help himself up.

Yeonjun was about to scream "fuck off Satan I won't hesitate to rebuke you in the name of ramen and febreeze!" And shove a cross into his face but… Yeonjun could see something in those large eyes. Something he's seen in Hyuka's eyes; a kid who was just afraid and didn't know what to do.

So he did something stupid. A sigh escaped Yeonjun's mouth, and clasped his and the weird ghost dude's hand together. Getting ready to pull himself up and potentially run despite the guy looking innocent and frightful, a blind white light exploded in Yeonjun's vision.

He felt like a large gust of wind came out of nowhere, sweeping him off his feet. Yeonjun couldn't feel anything, not even himself. He felt whisked away from his own body, his soul and body being slowly separated, like a rubber band stretching farther and farther apart until…

_SNAP!_

Yeonjun stumbled backwards, blinking his eyes a few times as black dots danced around his vision. He hit the wall behind him, hearing a vase shatter right beside himself. A groan escaped his mouth, a hand instinctively rubbing his head in pain, a searing pain engulfing his body.

Suddenly, Yeonjun could see clearly and he quickly took in his surroundings. It was an old house, very old with the vintage look. However, he didn't have much time to study around himself. Yeonjun's eyes landed onto the ghost boy, staring right at him with wide eyes.

"Where the fuck am I? What did you do to me?!" Yeonjun yelled, scrambling to his feet, ready to run for his life. Suddenly, he felt different clothes on his frame. He looked down to see low-quality beige pants and a white t-shirt tucked into himself, a black belt wrapping around his waist.

"I-I don't know where…" the man trailed off, glancing at his surroundings and then staring at Yeonjun's chest. Yeonjun followed his eyes to see a beautiful blue amulet, a thin chain hanging on his neck. It was a simple, but gorgeous necklace.

"We're… in 1948. In my home."

Yeonjun scoffed. "The hell? You're telling me that we teleported, time traveled, and randomly appeared in this weird ass getup?!"

"Any other explanation?"

The eldest opened his mouth to deliver a snarky comeback, but nothing came out. He was right, how else could this have happened? Yeonjun definitely wasn't knocked out, just a strange feeling overtook his body.

"What… Why did you bring me here? How am I even here?!" Yeonjun demanded, tears pooling at the corner of his eyes. However, he refused to cry. He wanted answers, and answers he shall get.

The man's eyes were still glued to the pendant Yeonjun had. "I… don't know what happened. I was a ghost for the past 71 years, and suddenly… I'm back where I started," he whispered.

Yeonjun glared at the boy, who no longer had blue hair. He now had a natural black color, raven locks brushed aside to reveal his forehead. "You're not telling me something."

He gulped, "fine." The boy took a shaky deep breath, and looked at Yeonjun with a serious expression, a grave look on his face. By the look on his face, Yeonjun wasn't even sure he wanted to know the truth at this point.

"Judging by that pendant, you've somehow taken my boyfriend's place. My boyfriend who died in 1949."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for using the f slur. I am straight, and I understand that I shouldn't be using that word. However I want to give the story the true feeling as if it's really in 1948. I feel as if people don't really speak about the people who have had to deal with the torture that came along with being gay in the past, so I want people to truly understand how they were treated. I hope you guys understood and enjoyed the chapter :)


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